Morocco / Middle East & North Africa

  
Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is led handcuffed from a court in Yangon in September. He and colleague Wa Lone are serving seven-year prison sentences in Myanmar. (Reuters/Ann Wang)

Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal

For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui holds her mobile phone during a press conference in Mexico City in 2017 about governments using spyware to target journalist. (AFP/Alfredo Estrella)

CPJ Safety Advisory: Pegasus spyware used to target journalists, civil society

[EDITOR’S NOTE: See CPJ’s updated safety advisory here https://cpj-preprod.go-vip.net/2019/11/cpj-safety-advisory-journalist-targets-of-pegasus-.php.] In a report published on September 18, Citizen Lab said it had detected Pegasus, a spyware created for mobile devices, in over 45 countries. Pegasus, which transforms a cellphone into a mobile surveillance station, could have been deployed against a range of journalists and civil society…

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Protesters chant during a demonstration in the northern Moroccan town of Imzouren on June 11, 2017. A Moroccan court sentenced two journalists to prison in late June 2018. (AFP/Fadel Senna)

Moroccan court sentences two journalists to several years in prison

New York, July 3, 2018–Moroccan authorities should immediately release journalists Mohamed al-Asrihi and Hamid al-Mahdaoui and drop all charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Casablanca Court of Appeals sentenced al-Asrihi on June 26 to five years in prison and a fine of 2,000 Moroccan dirhams (US$210), according to news reports;…

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A beach in Casablanca in July 2012. Moroccan police on February 23, 2018 arrested Taoufik Bouachrine, a columnist and the publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, at the newspaper's headquarters in Casablanca. (Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)

Critical Moroccan journalist arrested on several charges

Moroccan police on February 23, 2018 arrested Taoufik Bouachrine, a columnist and the publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, at the newspaper’s headquarters in Casablanca on charges including human trafficking, sexual assault, rape, prostitution, and harassment, according to his lawyers, outlets, and news reports.

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A boulevard in Casablanca, Morocco as seen in October 2012. A Casablanca court on February 12, 2018, convicted journalist Taoufik Bouachrine of criminal defamation in a lawsuit filed by two government ministers, according to news reports. (AP/Abdeljalil Bounhar)

Moroccan court convicts local publisher of criminal defamation

New York, February 14, 2018–Moroccan authorities should drop all charges against Akhbar al-Youm columnist and publisher Taoufik Bouachrine on appeal, and allow him to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Journalists and protesters hold placards outside an Istanbul court on October 31, 2017, calling for the release of jailed colleagues, including Turkish reporter Ahmet Şık. Turkey is the worst jailer of journalists in 2017. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression

For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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Passengers store their electronic items in their suitcases and bags when arriving at the Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport on Thursday, March 29, 2017. Moroccan authorities detained British reporter Saeed Kamali Dehghan on September 27, and then expelled him from Morocco. (AP/ Abdeljalil Bounhar)

Moroccan authorities detain, expel British journalist

New York, September 29, 2017–Moroccan authorities should lift any restriction on journalist Saeed Kamali Dehghan’s ability to travel to the country, and allow all journalists to report freely on matters of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Plainclothes policemen on September 27 detained Dehghan while he was reporting on the anti-corruption Al-Hirak…

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Moroccan video blogger sentenced to 10 months in prison

A Moroccan court on August 18, 2017 sentenced video blogger Mohamed Taghra to 10 months in prison for criminal defamation after he published a report on local police corruption in the country’s central Souss-Massa region, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information and the Arab Bloggers Union reported.

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A woman shouts slogans in a protest in the Moroccan town of Al-Hoceima, July 21, 2017. (Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)

Morocco deports Spanish journalists

New York, July 27, 2017–Moroccan authorities should lift any restriction on the ability of journalists José Luis Navazo and Fernando Sanz to enter the country and should allow journalists to report freely on matters of public interest, including protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A man broadcasts via Facebook during a demonstration in Rabat in support of protests in the northern Rif region. Police arrested a journalist who was on his way to cover the protests in Rif. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Editor of Morocco news website arrested on way to cover Rif protests

New York, July 21, 2017–Moroccan authorities should immediately release Badil Editor-in-Chief Hamid al-Mahdaoui, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested al-Mahdaoui yesterday as he traveled to the Rif area of northern Morocco to cover protests, according to one of the journalist’s colleagues and news reports.

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